9 October 2015, Kaposvár

Good afternoon. Allow me, also, to welcome you all.

Honourable Mayor, My Lord Bishop, Honourable Citizens of this City,

I stand here before you with mixed feelings. I should, of course, be speaking in a tone of joy, because – as we have heard from the Honourable Mayor – we have accomplished something truly great in the interest of the people who live here. At the same time, however, we are burdened by thoughts of the mass migration with which we must cope day after day. But in fact as I stand here this is not why I feel so unsettled. It is rather that I must say a few words about the fact that Professor István Nemeskürty died yesterday at the age of ninety. This fills us with sorrow. When one sees a truly uncompromising, unshakable man depart from this world (and the Professor was an unwavering soldier, teacher and academic all at once), we ourselves are shaken. Obviously over the next few days his life’s work will be amply commemorated in words of praise on television and the radio, but I must say a few words about this to you today. I feel compelled to bring this up, beyond merely paying tribute, because Hungary today would not and could not have a political culture, a parliament and a government with a civic, national and Christian majority, had Professor Nemeskürty not done his utmost to enable us to have such a parliament and such a government. He was the one who – back in 1995, or perhaps in 1996 – arranged an agreement between the Catholic Church and the then opposition powers (including our civic alliance, Fidesz), which opened the way for wider cooperation. It was a long time ago (and therefore perhaps the majority of those sitting here may not remember), but before the mid-nineties there was no such wide cooperation, and there could not be such wide cooperation, because the intellectual foundations were not there, and neither was the necessary human element. This is what the Professor gave us: the intellectual foundations and the human element. This is why we can sit here today and talk about the civic development of the City of Kaposvár. May the Professor rest in peace; he was an excellent patriot. It relieves our sorrow only a little that he lived to be ninety, and we can say that he had a full life.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Then there is this other matter, the issue of refugees. When the country is in trouble – or as the people stated in the (National Consultation) questionnaires, when our country and homeland must be protected – the question which always arises is whether we can or should talk about anything else. This is an interesting political debate, and it reminds me of a speech Winston Churchill made in the British parliament during World War II, when in the budget debate it was suggested that expenditure on culture should be reduced as part of the war effort. In response, Churchill stood up and said: “But in that case what is the point of fighting?” How true that is. Why are we protecting the country, if not to create in it the foundations of the life that we want for ourselves? This is the Modern Cities Programme, and we are celebrating the signing of an agreement including Kaposvár as part of it. The agreement contains a passage which clearly defines its purpose.

Allow me to quote two sentences from this agreement: “The purpose of the agreements is for these proud cities to become winners in the 21st century and flagships of development in the Hungarian provinces, and to be among the most successful and most modern European cities in the future.” And then the text continues cautiously, with due discretion: “For us Hungarians, a Hungarian city means a modern city.” And this is so, Ladies and Gentlemen. The text goes on to explain that this means a city “which is formed by the Hungarian temper and mind-set”. This is why we conclude these agreements. We would not like the leaders of the country – even though they have been elected democratically – to dictate from Budapest what path Kaposvár should pursue for its advancement. The people of Kaposvár will decide that. They know it best, they have elected leaders who are able to express the will of those who live here, and within its remit the Government seeks to reach agreements with these cities so that we can implement the programmes they devise.

Before coming to the essence of this agreement, allow me to make a third remark: it is very important to remind ourselves that we live in a democracy and we have a democratic government, which means that the government has no money of its own. Painful as this may be, it has no money of its own. In a democracy, the government has at its disposal the money and financial resources which the Hungarian people have worked for, which they have generated, and a part of which they have given up in the form of taxes paid in to the country’s central budget. Therefore, when we speak about urban development funds and resources (and we cannot repeat this in every single sentence because it would be boring and sound unnecessarily dramatic), I ask you to imagine the ten million people behind those funds who generate the capacity, the assets and revenue in their lives and with their efforts which their elected leaders are able to invest – wisely, we hope – in well-formulated agreements for the benefit of the country.

Before talking about the agreement, my fourth remark is one that relates to the city: this is an old love story between Kaposvár and our political family. For a very long time we have been able to boast that not only did we succeed in gaining the confidence of the people who live here, but we have also succeeded in retaining it. I am standing here beside one of the country’s longest-serving mayors, which obviously shows trust on the part of the citizens of Kaposvár. But still I can remember that the sun did not always shine so brightly: it was not all bright sunshine, but there was rain, and there was mud. In particular after 2002, when we lost the general election after our first term in government, and we had to pull ourselves together for the municipal elections. At that time there were cities which continued to stand by us, and there were others which did not. For our part, of course, we continued to stand by all our cities, because that is the way things work. And if I remember correctly, in 2002 it was at the municipal elections in Kaposvár – I am glad that I can see several of you here today who at that time were there with us and for us – where the preparations were laid for our comeback, which only occurred in 2010. We are grateful to this city, and if any bias can be detected in this agreement (after all, we are only human), this is why – even though we sought to curb our emotions and conclude an agreement with the Honourable Mayor on the basis of cold mathematical reason.

It is also part of this old love story, Dear People of Kaposvár, that over the past few years we have lifted a debt of 19.3 billion forints from the shoulders of this city and the people who live here; this not only means that you can now breathe far less heavily, but also that in planning the next few years you have been able to forget about the interest and amortisation payments on this debt, and you have been free to start drafting your plans for the next few years from scratch – or rather without restrictions. And it is also the duty of a prime minister when he visits a city to add up the development funds which have been channelled there over the past three to four years (in this instance to Kaposvár), and here I can see a figure of 38.3 billion forints. In other words, this city has had access via different channels to development opportunities worth 38.3 billion forints from the country’s central budget – not only through the municipality, but via regional development and grants provided for smaller settlements and the businesses operating here. I believe this is a remarkable performance by Hungarian standards, and also a great opportunity.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

What is it that we have agreed upon just now? The largest single item in our agreement means that we shall connect the City of Kaposvár to the country’s network of express roads. This is the Route 67 development, which will require – according to present estimates – 77 billion forints. Man proposes, God disposes, but at all events we are reckoning here with a sum of 77 billion forints. And I have to admit here, Dear Károly, that this may well only be completed by 2019 – in contrast to our earlier undertaking, which pledged under any circumstances to build this four-lane express road by 2018. It may well be that, compared with our earlier plans, this will only be accomplished a year later. We wish this were not so, we would like to succeed in delivering on our promise by 2018, but I am not completely sure about this. It may well be that the entire section of road will only be completed in 2019, rather than in 2018.

There is this terrifying thing called an intermodal something, which the Honourable Mayor referred to (it is completely incomprehensible how the Hungarian language can tolerate terms like this even on paper). Anyway, the fact is that some kind of junction or hub must be built in order to coordinate the city’s internal transport: its rail and road transport. According to estimates by the Honourable Mayor and experts, the cost of this project will be 12 billion forints, and we shall implement this during this electoral cycle: in other words, within the next three years.

It is elegant to talk about a theatre, as the Mayor himself has done. This is particularly true if you can claim to have one more seat in yours than your neighbour has in theirs. But it is less elegant to talk about the money this requires. This is my duty, and now I shall talk about this. According to current estimates the full refurbishment of Kaposvár’s theatre – which is not only a source of  pride for the country based on the quality it provides, but also in an aesthetic sense – will cost some 9 billion forints. So this is no small item, no simple business we are talking about.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I feel it important to repeat what the Mayor said about sport. Of course, at times like this Olympic gold medals race along in front of our minds’ eyes, but in fact neither the pool nor the sports hall is being built as a facility for sport at the highest level. Professional-level sport will just be the end result. In reality we are building them for children, for the future supply of top-level athletes, for the promotion of health and fitness and for parents; at best this will later lead to an Olympic champion and many elite athletes in each city.  But we do not want to put the cart before the horse: these facilities are designed primarily for children, parents and families. There will be a large sports hall in Kaposvár costing around four billion forints, and a similar amount of money will be devoted to building the 50-metre indoor sports pool.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Deseda Campgrounds: development and accommodation. We have now set aside four billion forints in the agreement for this, and in essence we have agreed that over the next few years there will be two billion forints for the development of utilities, and the elimination of deficiencies in the utilities network.

Totalling all this up, we've arrived at 120–122 billion forints. Of course I do not know the history of your city as well as the Mayor or those present, but perhaps I could venture to say that Kaposvár has never seen the like of this. I could say that  a sum of 120–122 billion forints has never been put together, and presented with the message “Good people of Kaposvár, use this well, use it for the benefit of those who live here and so that you can be proud of the city you live in, the city that is your life”.

Here I must mention a condition. Of course we have signed the agreement, you can see this and it must be complied with, but in the meantime it will not harm to remind ourselves that a well-performing Hungarian economy stands behind this, as it must do. These plans can be implemented, and civic consolidation can only come about, if it there are the economic foundations: in other words if people work , if businesspeople do business and everyone contributes – including those in public office – to the best of their ability, honestly doing their jobs. Provided all this is in place, these plans can be realized. But for all this Hungarian economic growth must be maintained at a relatively high level; last year, at 3.6 per cent, it was the highest or second-highest in Europe, and this year we hope it will also be around 3 per cent. We must maintain this in 2016, 2017 and 2018; this will not be easy, as growth is always more difficult to achieve when starting from a higher base – as even those with only basic maths skills can appreciate. Therefore I must tell you that we have signed the agreement, we are full of hope that economic governance will not throw us off course, we are full of hope that further measures needed for economic growth will be taken, and that there will be the economic foundations which make it possible for the agreement we have signed here to be realized in full.

Dear Charles,

There are still 2,344 people without work in this city. It is true that this is exactly 1,688 fewer than the last time we reviewed the city’s economic situation, but it is 2,344 people all the same. This is a very high number. Considering that this is a 5.1 per cent unemployment rate among the entire population, it naturally no longer seems so much. A 5.1 per cent figure somehow does not seem significant – and compared to 100 per cent it is not. But if we look at that number of 2,344, then we must see behind it as many people and their fates; this shows us that although we have signed the agreement and completed many things, a lot of work lies ahead of us. This is because on the next occasion we would like the figure to stand at zero, and to be able to say – as you earlier expressed as a goal – that in Kaposvár and its surroundings everyone who wants to work is in work. But for this, good people of Kaposvár, we have much more work to do, and I am convinced that this agreement will bring us closer to this goal.

I consider it an honour to have come to this agreement with the people of Kaposvár.

(Prime Minister's Office)